Uvalde police chief fired for botched response to school shooting

Pete Arredondo speaks at a press conference following the shooting at Robb Elementary School

(Picture: VIA REUTERS)

The police chief accused of botching the response to the fatal shooting of 19 school children and two teachers in Texas has been sacked.

In a vote on Wednesday, the local school board voted unanimously to remove Pete Arredondo, three months to the day since the attack on the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

Mr Arredondo, who has been on leave since June, has been criticised for the close to 77-minute delay in confronting the shooter, Salvador Ramos, on the day.

After the motion to remove the police chief was announced, pupil Caitlin Gonzalez, who survived the shooting, shouted: "Turn in your badge and step down."

“Right now, being young, she is having a hard time handling this horrific event,” Ruben Torres, father of Chloe Torres, who survived the shooting, said.

Parents, students and families arrive for a meeting (AP)

Despite the criticism directed at the sheriff, his lawyers claim he was unaware that anyone was inside the classroom with the shooter.

They also said Mr Arredondo did not believe he was the official in charge during the incident and called him a “courageous officer”.

In a statement, reported by the Austin American-Statesman, his lawyers said: “Any allegation of lack of leadership is wholly misplaced.

"The complaint that an officer should have rushed the door, believed to be locked, to open it up without a shield capable of stopping an AR-15 bullet, without breaching tools is tantamount to suicide."

During an investigation, it was found the door to one of the classrooms was never locked and there had been no evidence that an officer had attempted to open it.

Texas Department of Public Safety director Steve McCraw, identified Mr Arredondo as the incident commander and testified to the state Senate that Mr Arredondo had “decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children".

Pupils at the school will not return on September 6 when the term starts and will instead be provided with temporary classrooms in Uvalde or be schooled virtually.